Wall Street rose for a fifth straight day to put the wraps on a volatile month.
The S&P 500 rose 0.5 per cent in abbreviated trading Friday and closed out November with a slight gain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 289 points, or 0.6 per cent, and the Nasdaq gained 0.7 per cent. Stocks swooned in mid-month as investors worried stocks boosted by the frenzy around artificial intelligence such as Nvidia had gotten too expensive. Nvidia lost 1.8 per cent Friday and closed the month with a double-digit loss. Stocks rallied over the past week on hopes for another Federal Reserve rate cut next month.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
U.S. stocks rose in morning trading as Wall Street puts the wraps on a volatile month.
The S&P 500 rose 0.4 per cent and needs to hold that gain to avoid its first down month since April. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 282 points, and the Nasdaq gained 0.5 per cent as of 11:10 a.m. ET.
Coinbase Global added 4.3 per cent as bitcoin rose above US$92,000 after dropping to around US$81,000 last week. The world’s most popular cryptocurrency is still well below its all-time high of around US$125,000 set in early October.
Most tech stocks posted gains, with Meta Platforms rising 1.5 per cent and Micron Technology adding 2.4 per cent. But Nvidia, the market’s most valuable stock, fell 1.4 per cent and is headed for a double-digit loss for the month. Oracle another high-flyer that struggled this month, fell 2.1 per cent.
Wall Street is operating on an abbreviated schedule Friday after being closed for the Thanksgiving holiday. Stock trading closes at 1 p.m. ET.
Earlier, futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq were halted for hours due to a technical issue at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. CME said the problem was tied to an outage at a CyrusOne data center.
After slumping earlier this month as investors worried that many of the tech stocks that were propelled higher by the frenzy over artificial intelligence had gotten too expensive, the market has risen for four straight trading sessions on hopes the Federal Reserve will again cut interest rates at its meeting next month.
Recent comments from Federal Reserve officials have given traders more confidence the central bank will again cut interest rates at its meeting that ends Dec. 10. Traders are betting on a nearly 87 per cent probability that the Fed will cut next month, according to data from CME Group.
The central bank, which has already cut rates twice this year in hopes of shoring up the slowing job market, is facing an increasingly difficult decision on interest rates as inflation rises and the job market slows. Cutting interest rates further could help support the economy as employment weakens, but it could also fuel inflation. The latest round of corporate earnings reports was mostly positive, but economic data has been mixed.
The minutes of the Fed’s most recent meeting in October indicate there are likely to be strong divisions among policymakers about the Fed’s next step.
Investors also had their eye on retail stocks as they wait to see if shoppers rushed to take advantage of the annual Black Friday sales event. Macy’s rose 0.6 per cent and Kohl’s gained 2 per cent but Dick’s Sporting Goods dropped 1.4 per cent. Among specialty retailers, Abercrombie & Fitch rose 4.4 per cent and American Eagle Outfitters gained 0.7 per cent.
Treasury yields rose slightly, with the 10-year yield at 4.03 per cent.
In European trading, Germany’s DAX rose 0.3 per cent even as a report showed inflation accelerated more than expected in November and rose to the highest level since February.
Britain’s FTSE 100 edged up 0.4 per cent on gains in energy and mining stocks. The CAC 40 in France also rose 0.3 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 0.2 per cent higher to 50,253.91, rebounding from losses earlier in the day. Data showed Japan’s housing starts rose 3.2 per cent in October from the same period a year ago, the first annual increase since March. The number defied market expectations of 5.2 per cent decline and reversed a 7.3 per cent drop in September.
South Korea’s Kospi dropped 1.5 per cent after the country’s industrial production fell 4 per cent month-on-month in October, more than the 1.1 per cent decline in September.